Timegazer
by driftingstar
Summary: Just before his consciousness is swallowed up by Zarc's darkness, Yuuya makes a wish: a second chance to set things right. Will he succeed in saving him and his counterparts from their cruel destiny, or will he repeat his own mistakes? Set after episode 126. Time Travel. Fix-It fic. Yuuya-centric.
1. The First Time

_-_ **we will become one** _-_

His consciousness is fading, no, _blending_. The edges of his self are bleeding over, mixing and mingling, running together like too much water mixed into the paint and defiling the canvas of their souls. The red of anger, the grey of despair; their emotions surge violently beneath the dark aura that wraps itself around them like a shroud. Thick and vivid enough to choke on. Painful. Disjointed.

The darkness crawls up all around them, closing off their hearts, their senses, one by one until nothing of them remain. Just before the end of everything, is one last thought. One last burst of emotion, synchronized across four boys who had crossed beyond anyone's reach. Beyond time. Beyond space.

horror,

grief

loss

and above all, _regret_

 _ **I wish…**_

 _ **I wish I had another chance**_

They think as one before everything is dyed in white.

* * *

Yuuya awakens to more pain; it pulses through his chest like a monster clawing at his insides and sending fiery lances through his spine. He doubles over, hands scrambling against his ribs as if his agony could be abated by such futile actions. Tears spring to his eyes, unbidden, as he gasps for breath, his lungs burning from the chill of the evening air.

Slowly, his senses return as if sloughing through molasses. The formless blurs before his eyes coalesces into an unnervingly familiar sight.

He nearly cries out, limbs trembling as he lifts his head up to take in his surroundings. The little parkette in the vibrant city where he was born (was placed?), dyed in shades of twilight. He remembers the gentle swaying of leaves, the children's playground in the corner and the long hours he and Yuzu had spent there. And there is a lamppost, bent and discarded on the concrete.

It is as if not a second had passed since that fateful day where the cogs of his cruel destiny started to turn.

 _Destroy, everything!_

 _Burn it all to ashes!_

A deep chill penetrates his bones as he gazes upon the other two, eyes aglow with a sinister flame, their expressions twisted with malice until their faces are almost unrecognizable.

Gentle, sad Yuuto, scarred by the horrors of war and tired of hurting.

Brave, lonely Yuugo, who crossed dimensions and fought alone for so long.

(And Yuuri, skulking in the shadows. Twisted, corrupted, but possibly just as sad, just as lonely beneath the madness that engulfed them all.)

For a moment, he thinks he's seeing a nightmare. How many times has his tortured mind replayed this exact moment over again? He recalls every detail with vivid clarity; he remembers Yuuto's fluttering pulse, the gentleness of his smile and the unmistakable tremor in his hand as he holds up his prized dragon with all his remaining strength. To pass onto Yuuya his legacy.

 _If it's you, you'll be able to do it._

Yuuto has left him with those words. That unbending faith in a power that Yuuya himself didn't believe he possessed. He'd clung to them, repeated the mantra in his head until he recited it in his dreams.

Duel to bring smiles. Bring joy. Put an end to this horrible, senseless war. It seemed like an unimaginable, unreachable goal. But he _had_ to do it.

There was never any other option. Yuuto had _died_.

He remembers pressing on, refusing to accept any other possibility. He had to believe in his efforts. To believe in his ideals or everything would crumble to ashes around him. In the face of everything, he had persevered, even when friend after friend around him fell. The names of the dead continued to pile up as the accumulation of his sins.

Hokuto. Michio. Hikage. Tsukikage. Dennis. Crow.

 _His own father._

But somehow, against all odds, in spite of every fear, every doubt, he had persevered. He climbed every obstacle. Beaten every enemy. He had saved the world… or so he thought. Instead, in the cruelest possible irony, he had become the very disaster he sought to stop. The scourge that will envelop the world in chaos and destruction. It makes him want to laugh. To throw his arms out and laugh like he had never laughed before. What was the point? For what reason had he fought? Everything he did, everything he suffered… all so he could lose everything he tried to protect.

 _Is this some kind of sick joke?_ The urge to yell bubbles up inside him even though he knows no one can hear him. This was just another nightmare. A ploy, he thinks viciously, from the mastermind behind everything to keep them weak. Subdued.

After all, he had seen this damned dream so many times before and it always ended the same.

" _Attack Clear Wing Synchro Dragon!"_ Yuuto snarls, his face twisted with such foreign rage and hatred that it physically _pains_ him to behold. Without the luxury of thought, his legs are already moving, running, the soles of his sneakers pounding against the concrete just as his heart pounds in his chest.

The first time, he had been so naive, so _stupid_. He thought if he yelled enough, if he could just get _through_ to people, he could change things. He had known nothing about the war, about the circumstances of the people he tried to reach. By the time he finally understood, it was too late. Far, far too late.

But what choice did he have? What other tools did he have at his disposal?

 _He was just a kid. They were all just stupid kids._

Just like before, he throws himself between them with arms spread wide.

"STOP IT!" he screams. A denial. A rejection of the twisted world that Zarc had created. "Just _stop_! This isn't _right_! None of it is! A dimensional war? Kids killing kids? It doesn't make any damn sense! Why did so many people have to suffer?! What was the point? It isn't _fair._..!" His voice breaks on the last word, frustration and loss and despair mounting until he can hardly breathe.

"It's not fair," he repeats, squeezing his eyes shut and covering his ears to shut out the world. He expects to either feel the heat of Dark Rebellion's flames or Yuuto pushing him out of the blast's range. In all versions of his recurring nightmares, one of them always burn.

But this time, there is silence.

Yuuya slowly opens his eyes. Both Yuuto _and_ Yuugo stare back, frozen in place.

"Yuu… ya?" It is Yuuto who speaks up haltingly, a hand reaching up as if to clutch at his head as the glow in his eyes flicker. Across from him, Yuugo is groaning quietly, bent over his bike and trembling. But behind his coloured visor, Yuuya can see that terrible light in his eyes is also fading, giving away to clear blue irises.

He watches with confusion as Yuuto reaches up for his duel disk and deactivates it. Duel interrupted, Clear Wing and Dark Rebellion give one last furious roar before disappearing in a shower of sparks.

His dreams never went like this.

Yuuya's heart beats faster as he gazes at the two, feeling like time had slowed to a stop. For a long, tense moment, they stare at each other in awkward silence with three pairs of near identical eyes.

Yuugo is the first to speak up, breaking their strange stalemate. A fierce scowl settles over his features, displacing the momentary disorientation.

"You!" he snarls, jabbing an accusing finger at them. "Where _is_ she? What have you done with her? Where. Is. Rin?!" But beneath the anger that had convinced everyone he was an enemy, Yuuya can see it now. The fear, the loneliness.

Rin. He was searching for her just as desperately as he had searched for Yuzu. But even in his darkest moments, Yuuya had his friends with him. Gongenzaka, a steadfast presence at his back. Even Sawatari. Who did Yuugo have?

Yuugo's hand is inching towards his duel disk again, hackles raised like a cornered animal. He's clearly outnumbered but the stubborn set of his jaw tells Yuuya that he's not going to back down. Without Yuuya realizing, Yuuto had come out to stand beside him, also reacting to Yuugo's unspoken threat. But there is a strange hesitancy in both of them now; both clearly shaken by what had happened. Later, Yuuto had admitted to Yuuya that he hadn't been able to remember much of the duel with Yuugo. Only that a foreign rage had taken his senses hostage and blocked out all rational thought.

"What are you talking about?" Yuuto growls back, expression tightening. " _I'_ _m_ the one who has questions for _you_! Where is Ruri?"

Yuuya doesn't know what has changed or why this dream had gone wildly off-script. Yuuto is still here, still _alive_ , and Yuugo is glaring at them with lucid eyes. Everything feels so vivid. It's hard to believe that this is just another dream.

He takes a step forward, his heart racing with an odd sense of trepidation. Even if it's not real, even if it's just another grand illusion, what's the harm in playing along? "Yuugo, we're not your enemies! We didn't take Rin! Akaba Leo is the one behind this! He's the one who destroyed Yuuto's homeland. You were there, weren't you? In Heartland-"

Yuugo cuts in, looking absolutely infuriated. He slams a fist down against the dashboard, looking furious enough to kill. "I said, it's not _Yuugo [_ , it's- Huh?" The mask of fury evaporates and a look of blank confusion settles over his face and the three of them are back to staring at each other in silence.

Then, Yuugo's face flames a bright, embarrassed red and he seems to struggle for words. "It… is Yuugo. I mean, _I'm_ Yuugo. My name. That's my name." He looks so completely flummoxed that Yuuya suddenly finds himself bursting into peals of laughter in spite of himself. He laughs until his chest hurts and his lungs burn, all the while as Yuuto looks on in concern and Yuugo's face grows redder.

"Yuuya?" Yuuto speaks up carefully. "Are… are you alright?"

If anything, that only fuels his hysteria and makes him laugh harder. Everything suddenly seems _hilarious_. The funniest, strangest, most _terrible_ hing that has ever happened to him. "I… I can't believe it!" Yuuya wheezes between gasps of air. "All this time, all of this is because _Yuuto_ got his name wrong!"

Now it's Yuuto's turn to colour. His cheeks turn a pale, dusty pink as he opens his mouth as if to protest, but the only thing that comes out are sputtering denials. "Yuuya, it wasn't- I wasn't-" Of course he would be embarrassed to have jumped to such devastating conclusions, Yuuya can't help but think. If Yuugo had been a little less worked up, if Yuuto had been a little better at explaining himself, maybe all of this could have been avoided.

Maybe. Or maybe none of them ever had a choice.

Yuuya just can't stop laughing. Or maybe he's crying; it's difficult to tell. But either way, Yuugo looks increasingly unhappy. He balls his gloved hands into fists and flings himself off his bike. "Stop it! Stop _laughing_ at me!" he cries as he stomps towards him. Yuuya can see little, frustrated tears beading in the corners of his wide, expressive eyes and a tiny thread of guilt rises up. He gasps for breath, trying to force the hysterical laughter back down with limited success.

Unfortunately, it isn't enough to appease his counterpart because Yuugo seizes him by the collar of his shirt with both hands. "You _bastard_!" he snarls and Yuuto immediately comes to his rescue, grabbing onto Yuugo's wrists to dislodge his grip.

"Let him go," Yuuto demands. "Yuuya's got nothing to do with this-"

"Why don't _you_ let go, you… you caped-weirdo! What does this have to do with you? If you hadn't attacked me with your big dumb dragon, this wouldn't-"

"- _You're_ the one who attacked _us_! And what else were we supposed to think, showing up in the middle of a _war zone_?"

"Well, you should have _said_ something if you _weren't_ the one who took-"

"-You weren't even listening, you thick-headed-"

"No! _You_ weren't listening, you pineapple-brained, jerk-faced son of a-"

" _Guys_ ," Yuuya cuts in desperately, finally composed again, now that Yuugo is slowly cutting off his air supply. "Look, I'm sorry I lost it, okay? I wasn't to make fun of you, I swear!" But his words seem to fall on deaf ears as Yuugo and Yuuto continue to bicker like petulant three-year-olds. Yuuya had always thought of Yuuto as the calm one, but Yuugo seems to have a talent for riling people up. He heaves a deep sigh, but for some reason, his lips can't help but twitch up as the scene is strangely nostalgic _._

"Hey," he tries again, exasperated as he reaches out to grab onto both of their arms. "Why don't we all just take a deep breath and-"

"Yuuya!" Yuuya stills, eyes widening in shock when another voice suddenly echoes through the empty park. A sweet, high soprano, brimming with worry. The voice of the one he had tried to desperately to save. His best friend.

"Yuzu-!" he gasps, turning with a desperate look in his eyes as he strains to catch a glimpse of her. For a moment, he completely forgets that none of this can possibly be real. That he's most likely just having some kind of lucid dream. A hallucination. But even if it _is_ a dream, even if it's just an illusion, he _needs_ to see her again. " _Yuzu_ , I'm-!"

But the last things he sees are Yuugo and Yuuto's horrified faces as his voice, along with the rest of his surroundings, are all swallowed up by a maelstrom of blinding light.


	2. Down Time

Yuuya is left blinking spots out of his eyes as he stumbles, disoriented and confused. His stomach churns at the nauseating sensation of being suddenly displaced through time and space. He can only liken it to being squeezed through a vacuum tube while his consciousness is forcefully disassembled and then reassembled. It was a highly unpleasant feeling and Yuuya is in no hurry to experience it again.

All in all, this is turning out to be the weirdest dream he's ever had.

His counterparts don't look like they're faring any better, judging from their ashen complexions. Yuugo, in particular, looks especially agitated. "What… What the heck just happened?" Yuugo blurts out, his grip on Yuuya's collar tightens convulsively which makes him sputter and look to Yuuto for help.

But the boy in question is too busy staring at their surroundings with a tense, yet resigned expression. "We… moved," is all he offers.

"Haaaah?!" Yuugo turns his glare towards Yuuto. "What the heck is that supposed to- holy _shit,_ we moved! Where the hell are we now?!" Yuugo drops his grip completely, to Yuuya's deep relief. He straightens up, coughing lightly as he brushes the wrinkles out of his shirt. Slowly, he turns in trepidation to take in their surroundings.

The parkette is gone and Yuzu along with it. Yuuya can't help the pang of loss that shoots through him. The last time he saw her in one piece was back on that boat, heading towards Academia. It feels like lifetimes ago, even though their time apart only lasted days.

Though, it is more accurate to say that _they're_ the ones who have gone.

Instead, the three of them are standing in a small suburban district, in front of a modest, two-story house with an asymmetrical roof. Yuuya is momentarily stunned until his shoulders slump as pure, unadulterated relief washes over him as he realizes that he _recognizes_ these streets. He _recognizes_ this house.

"We're _home_ ," Yuuya whispers without meaning to. His throat tightens up as moisture wells up in his eyes. It finally hits him that he's _back._ Waiting just beyond those doors is his warm, comfortable bed, his posters, his normal, everyday life. His mom's here. Uncle Shuzo. The kids at You-Show. They're all here.

Suddenly, his mind is bursting with possibilities. A dangerous hope starts to swell inside his chest, hot and nearly painful as it threatens to overwhelm him. It's far too real, far too _vivid_ to be just a dream. Yuuya can count the number of cracks in the sidewalk, the chipped paint on his walls. Everything is just like he left it.

What if… _what if_ …

He squashes the thought before it has a chance to bud. It's too good to be true, too fantastical, like something out of a _manga_. He can't allow himself to even entertain the idea _,_ because this could all a part of _his_ plan. Yuuya isn't naive anymore. There's no way he can be blindly optimistic, not with how much he was disappointed, time and time again.

"... _We_ don't live here," Yuugo reminds him, looking at him askance as he crosses his arms. His posture is strangely defensive. He's staring at the warm light filtering through the windows with a complicated expression on his face. "It's nice, though. I guess. For a house."

Yuuya blinks, having nearly forgotten that the two of them are still here. Yuuto also looks oddly chagrined, keeping his gaze averted to the ground.

"You should go, Yuuya," he says quietly. Gently. "Go to your family. Now that the fusion user is gone, you don't need to have any further part in this war."

A thread of hysteria rises up inside his chest, threatening to bubble up again as laughter as Yuuya fights to not correct him. At this point, none of them had any idea just how involved the four of them really are. This whole damn war was all _because_ of them. Because of Zarc.

But when he looks at Yuuto again, really looks at him, it finally dawns on him why the two of them look so uncomfortable and Yuuya could have smacked himself for being so insensitive. Yuuto had come straight out of a war zone, still dressed in that ragged cape and covered in the dust from the battlefield. Yuugo, likewise, had been on his own this whole time, journeying fruitlessly through the dimensions in search of his best friend. Where had they slept? When did they last eat?

"What about you?" he asks, his heart in his throat. "What are you going to do?"

Before they can answer, another voice suddenly speaks up.

"Yuuya? Is that you?" There is a click when the door suddenly opens, flooding the narrow street with light. His mother stands in its frame, her long, blonde locks framing her face like a halo as she gazes down at him with fond exasperation. "Honestly, what were you doing out so late, huh? And who are your friends?"

Yuuto and Yuugo's eyes widen as they stare up at Yoko like deer caught in the headlights.

"U-Um," Yuugo stammers, waving his hands negligently in the air while Yuuto seems to be trying to melt into the shadows. "We're not-"

"They're my friends," Yuuya cuts in, determined. His heart is beating wildly in his chest from an inexplicable nervousness. Perhaps, it's because this is the first time he's knowingly making a change. Tiny ripples in the pond that could be the key to creating enormous waves. "From. From out of town. They… they don't have anywhere else to stay yet."

Yoko's dark green irises flicker over to the boy's disheveled and grubby appearances and Yuuto and Yuugo stiffen as one, identical expressions of discomfort appearing on their faces at her scrutiny. His mother frowns and he can clearly feel her confusion and alarm and Yuuya wants to smack himself for the second time. How could he have _forgotten_ that the three of them had the same face? He had gotten so used to the idea. He had certainly spent enough time with Serena that the idea of doppelgangers prancing around had seemed commonplace. He opens his mouth, even as his brain is frantically trying to come up with a plausible explanation.

But in the time he was berating himself, it seemed like Yoko had come up with an answer all on her own. Her eyes darken in cold fury as her hands clenched and Yuuya gulps. He belatedly remembers that his mom _used to be a gang member_ and is suddenly filled with dread. He can only imagine what is going through her head right now.

"Mom, wait," Yuuya says hurriedly, stepping in front of his counterparts. "It's not. Not what it looks like-"

" _Yuushou_ ," Yoko growls and Yuuya stills.

"Huh?" Yuuya, Yuuto, and Yuugo all ask in unison,

"That bastard!" she yells, slamming a fist into the doorframe with enough force to make the entire house tremble and they all jump. "How _dare_ he? Going off and making cute babies without me?!"

Yuuya chokes. As far as he knows, his dad was happily married and completely _faithful_ to his mother. "Wait, mom, _no_! Yuuto and Yuugo aren't-"

" _Yuu_ to and _Yuu_ go!" Yoko throws her hands up in a mixture of disgust and despair. "Just like that egocentric _jackass_ to name all his kids after himself! The whole _goddamn_ house is already plastered with his _face_! And you! What are you doing here instead of being home with your moms? Your families must be worried sick."

Yuuya turns to the other two boys with a pleading expression, hoping that they would clear up this horrible misunderstanding.

"My family is gone," Yuuto says in a near whisper, his grey eyes darkening in sorrow.

"I grew up in an orphanage," Yuugo offers. "I don't know my parents' faces."

Yuuya gulps and takes a step back when Yoko's expression practically crumbles. He was wise to get out of the way because, in the next moment, a sobbing Yoko had flung herself off the steps and crushed the two boys to her bosom in rib-crushing hugs.

"You poor sweet _babies_ ," Yoko coos, running motherly hands over their messy locks and then patting their cheeks. "Don't worry, the two of you are _always_ welcome here. Whatever you need. Now, let's get you boys inside and out of the cold. Dinner's almost ready too." With that, Yoko immediately began ushering the two boys towards the warm, brightly-lit house and they follow along, dazed.

Yuuto looks visibly alarmed at the sudden attention and not so subtly tries to slide out of her grasp. But Yuugo, on the other hand, seems to be experiencing a lot of complicated emotions. Yuuya takes one look at the sheer naked longing on his face and he decides that he will perpetuate this misunderstanding for as long as it takes if it means he'll never have to see Yuugo look that lost and uncertain ever again.

It's not like Yuushou is around to bear the brunt of his mom's fury anyway.

* * *

Yuuya is certain that _this_ is the most surreal thing he has ever experienced.

Forget interdimensional wars or duelists fusing themselves with dragons. Clearly, having a nice quiet sit-down at the dinner table with three out of four fragments of destruction incarnate beats out all of those things by a wide margin. Yuuya has to bite his lips to stop another hysterical burst of laughter from escaping. All they need now is evil, creepy, tentacle-loving Yuuri to show up and demand to be invited to dinner.

Yuuto and Yuugo look just as awkward as he does, sitting across the table from him. Yoko had put them next to each other and Yuuya isn't sure which one of them looked more horrified. Yuugo is sporting what seems to be a permanent blush as he fidgets with the hem of one of Yuuya's shirts. Yoko had been pleased as punch that Yuuya's clothes fit them almost perfectly. The orange doesn't look too terrible on Yuugo, but Yuuya needs to avoid looking at Yuuto lest he starts giggling again.

All three of them had been immediately ushered towards the bath since Yoko had deemed them all to be 'absolutely filthy' and their clothes had been subsequently confiscated, much to Yuugo's alarm which could only be pacified with the promise that he will get it back after a very _thorough_ washing. After a series of extremely quick and extremely awkward showers, the three of them were led back down to the dining room while Yoko finished up in the kitchen.

"S-So," Yuuya's voice cracks on the first try so he pretends to clear his throat and attempt it again. What exactly is he supposed to say in a scenario like this? It's not like they teach you this in draws a deep breath and exhales through his nose. Maybe he just needs to change his thinking. Like, pretend he's just a regular kid with regular friends who are sleeping over for a night.

Then he remembers that the last 'friend' that came over was actually a fusion invader and he quietly gives up.

Luckily, he's spared from having to make small talk when Yoko bursts back into the room with uncannily good timing, in the way only a mother can, with her arms burdened with a large pot. Wisps of white steam wafted from its still bubbling surface and the savoury aroma makes Yuuya's mouth water it never has before. With everything that has happened in the last couple of days, he can't even recall the last time he ate, let alone his mother's cooking. The food they served at the Friendship Cup should have been delicious but he hadn't been able to swallow a single bite.

"Sorry, it's just _oden_ for tonight, boys," Yoko says with a beaming smile as she sets it down in the middle of the table. "And I had to make more since _someone_ hadn't told me you were coming! But tomorrow, we'll celebrate properly. How does _sukiyaki_ sound?"

Yuugo's eyes are as wide as their dinner plates as he silently mouths ' _oden_ ' like he can't quite believe his ears. Even Yuuto doesn't look nearly as stoic anymore, gulping quietly as he stares at the pot with a desperate intensity. Fortunately, Yoko seems to sense their hunger and is quick to spoon out big, generous portions into waiting bowls.

Yuuya quickly loses any sense of decorum when his share is finally presented to him and he dives in like a ravenous beast, rather than a teenaged boy, shoveling spoonful after spoonful into his mouth almost faster than he can chew. It's rich and flavourful and tastes so unmistakably of _home_ , like early mornings with Yoko's voice cajoling him to wake, like hours spent curling up beneath the kotatsu on cold, winter evenings.

Once again, Yuuya finds himself wavering between his jaded suspicious and the desperate, childish longing for this to all be real.

 _Please, please, just give me this_. _Please_.

He quickly rubs at his eyes to avoid an onset of tears. He's being ridiculous. Crying over a pot of noodles.

Though it seems that Yuugo doesn't share his compunctions. "I've… I've never eaten anything this good in my _life_ ," Yuugo wails and Yuuya notices that he's actually sobbing between bites and doesn't bother pausing to wipe away the big, fat tears that are rolling down his cheeks. Even Yuuto's eyes look suspiciously moist, though that might just be from the steam.

Yoko watches over them all with a soft, proud smile that had saved Yuuya so many times before. Looking back, his mother had always been there, through all the whispers and all the jeers that followed him throughout his childhood. Branded as a coward's son. Always in his father's shadow. But Yoko had been by his side, soothing away the bruises and making everything better. And now, she's doing it again.

Dinner passes with surprisingly few incidents, ending when the three of them were stuffed to the point of bloating. Yuuto had at least remembered his manners, thanking Yoko profusely after the meal had ended while Yuugo seemed on the verge of passing out, swaying on his feet until Yoko shepherded them all to bed. It's a testament to how exhausted they all are that none of them think of protesting when Yoko hands them unintentionally matching pajamas and bundles them all into Yuuya's room. Two freshly made up futons lie side by side next to his bed and the three weary travelers practically collapse into them.

Yuuya vaguely realizes that there is still a mountain of things that they all need to discuss, starting with the dimensional war, the four girls, and _Zarc_. Now would probably be the best time, since they are all relatively calm and not on the verge of losing control and turning into an omnicidal maniac. There is so much still to be done. They need to stop this war, to make Leo see sense. To stop Zarc's revival. To stop Yuuri. So many elements, so many pieces in an endlessly evolving puzzle that it makes his head hurt just to think about it.

But by the time he thinks of voicing his concerns, Yuuto and Yuugo had already given into slumber.

Yuuya sighs quietly and curls up onto his side, feeling strangely at peace, in a way he has never felt before. Calm, for once, despite being in such a turbulent situation. Perhaps, in a way, he feels like he has the answers for once. He's not burdened by the shadow of not knowing what happened to his father. He's not wracked with fear and guilt at failing to protect his friends. For now, everything in his little world is as it should be. He basks in this momentary reprieve from the storm. This stolen time.

Sighing, Yuuya closes his eyes and slowly falls asleep to the sound of two sets of steady breathing.


	3. Three Days Grace

Consciousness returns to Yuuya like a jackhammer; one moment he is floating in the fog of a restless sleep made up of dreamy whispers and an increasing sense of urgency, and the next, he is plunging off the precipice and into startled awareness.

A sudden shriek in his ear tells him two things: one, he had rolled off the bed which would explain that oddly realistic sensation of falling and two, Yuugo is also awake with a wild look in his eyes. "Sorry, sorry!" he exclaims as he hurries to climb off him but he must have overestimated how awake he was since all he managed to do was elbow him in the gut.

"What's the big idea?!" Yuugo yelps, the baffled terror giving way to annoyance when he realizes that he wasn't being attacked. Yuuya gets a vengeful pillow to the face and he has to admit that's only fair.

"Sorry," he says his muffled apology into the pillow before he finally figures out how to extract himself from Yuugo's limbs. Yuugo glares at him with bleary suspicion as he hugs the pillow back to his chest. Yuuya is struck by another moment of surreality as he considers the image of his doppelganger with mussed hair and wearing a rumpled pair of his own pajamas.

He doesn't know much of Yuugo; for the longest time, he had thought he was an enemy. What had been an anger born of worry and loss had been mistaken for hate and malice. It was only much, much later that they had learned the truth. Yuugo had been somewhat an enigma to him; they had never spoken directly, always just missing the other, save for that brief moment when their minds met. Unlike Yuuto who was carried the greys of sorrow and Yuuri who was cloaked in the violet of malice, Yuugo reminded him of a clear blue sky. Yuugo's joy and sheer love for dueling had permeated his being and for a moment, all of Yuuya's worries and fears had been carried away by the wind.

Yuugo had protected Yuzu without asking for anything in return. He kept her safe for as long as he could.

This time, Yuuya plans on keeping them all safe. All of them; Yuugo and Yuuto. Yuzu and Serena. His friends from Standard. Everyone he's met on his journey, the lives that he touched. So many of them had suffered. So many of them had put their trust in him, followed him into battle and believed that he could change the world. And he failed in the most horrible way.

Yuuya's pulse starts to quicken as anticipation builds in his chest. All of the urgency, the racing thoughts from the previous night threatens to spill over, now that his head is no longer fogged by sleep. There is too much to do and precious little time to do it any of it in. The enormity of it all is crushing, a vast, unfathomable pressure bearing down on him. Half-formed plans flash across his mind, only to be discarded as the winds of uncertainty bat them away. Every second that ticks by fills him with dread, like he's grasping at sands in an hourglass and watching them slip through his fingers.

"-uuya? Yuuya?" A concerned voice suddenly cuts in and jolts him out of his dizzying thoughts. Yuuya sucks in a deep breath, trying to calm the sudden burst of hysteria that had risen as he turns towards the window.

Yuuto is an inky blot against the streams of white light filtering in from the curtains, his cloak over his shoulders and collar pulled up over his face. He looks even more like a spectre, a literal ghost from his past. Yuuya swallows thickly, hurting from the sight.

"Yuuto?" he asks, his voice coming out tinier than he had meant for it to. He can see the concern etched into the stony lines of Yuuto's face, transforming his stern countenance into something gentle. Even Yuugo is looking at him with furrowed brows, sitting up in his makeshift bed with his arms wrapped around a pillow.

"You froze up," Yuuto says softly. Unlike Yuugo and Yuuya, he looks like he had been awake for a while. Fully dressed in the freshly laundered clothes that Yoko had laid out for him, he is reclining against the window ledge with an air of wistfulness. A sudden flash of insight tells him that Yuuto must have been about to leave before Yuuya's sudden awakening; melting quietly back into the formless shadows like he had never been there. Yuuya remembers the regret on his face as he expressed his reluctance to involve innocents in his war.

But there had never been a chance that the four of them could have lived in peace.

"Sorry," Yuuya mumbles, rubbing the sleep-dust from his eyes as he tries to sort out his thoughts. "It's just. There's a lot to take in right now. Knowing there are other dimensions out there and everything."

"You said something yesterday," Yuugo interjects, eyes sharp with the same frighteningly intense focus that he had during his duels. Yuuya stiffens, taken aback from how intimidating Yuugo could look with bedhead and a pair of his rumpled pajamas. "About some guy called Akaba being the one who's behind this. That means you know, don't you? You know where Rin is!"

Yuuya's breath catches in his throat, thoughts in disarray as he fumbles with an answer. Images of a green-haired girl trapped behind glass and the sadness in her eyes when she realized that Yuugo hadn't made it in time.

Luckily, Yuuto saves him from having to answer. "Akaba Leo is the leader of the forces that invaded my homeland," he says and Yuuya detects a slight hitch in his voice. "One of our comrades was captured and we came to Standard following a lead."

Yuugo stills, frowning harder. "But I saw you," he says, shaking his head. Yuuya stills when he sees hostility suddenly forming in his eyes. Without the confusion from the sudden teleportation and Yoko's overwhelming mothering, the seeds of suspicion in Yuugo's heart seems to have reemerged. "That night. You were wearing that stupid cape and Rin was over your shoulder!"

Yuuto's eyes narrow in turn and the temperature in the room seems to drop. "They saw someone who looked similar to me wandering around our camp the day before Ruri disappeared," he says slowly, body tensing as if anticipating a fight. "Are you going to tell me you had nothing to do with that?"

"I don't know any Ruri," Yuugo growls, tossing the pillow away as he leaps up to his feet. Yuuya jumps up as well, alarm flaring up violently at the sudden turn of events. "You're the one who took her, didn't you? I should have beat the sh-"

"I will believe you are sincere about your friend," Yuuto growls, grey eyes flashing with intent. "But then again, Academia must have something on you for you to become one of Fusion's pawns ."

"My name is YUUGO! " Yuugo snarls, blind fury flashing across his eyes as he launches himself at Yuuto, hands balled into fists. Helpless and horrified, Yuuya throws himself forward, mind whirling frantically.

"Not in my room!" Yuuya shouts so loudly that he ends up startling himself along with his two counterparts, especially when he ends up colliding with the both of them and sending all three of them crashing down onto the floor. They groan as one but Yuuya only takes a moment to wince before hurriedly attempting damage control. "Will you two just stop?! There's got to be another explanation for this! I know neither of you actually want to hurt anyone!"

"Then who the hell was it?!" Yuugo retorts, furiously trying to shove them off. "Unless there's another bastard out there with stupid purple hair and wearing my face?!"

"There is," Yuuya blurts out without thinking and shrinks back when two pairs of eyes swivel to pin him with identical glares. His stomach sinks while his heart feels like it's about to leap out of his chest as he realizes he had made a mistake. "I… I mean," he stumbles, flinching as even Yuuto starts to look at him with suspicion.

"S-Sora!" The name tumbles out from his mouth as he flounders around for an excuse. Yuuto's eyes sharpen while Yuugo's remain confused but Yuuya presses on blindly, scrapping together words as soon as they form in his brain. "I remember him saying… that I reminded him of someone back home. He-He called me by a different name when we first met. Something like… 'Yuuri'." The hasty lie falls utterly flat on his tongue and makes his insides squirm with guilt, but Yuugo and Yuuto have stopped trying to punch each other out which Yuuya has to count as a plus. His heart flutters with dread as he tries to consider the ramifications of his impulsiveness. "Yuuto, when we dueled-Sora said he was from Academia, didn't he? Then maybe this 'Yuuri' might be the person you both saw."

Yuuto's face looks like it could have been carved out of granite and Yuuya's heart sinks. He kicks himself hard, berating himself for blurting out the first thing he could think of. Of course, they would be suspicious; it was a long shot and took a ridiculous leap of logic to infer that there was suddenly a fourth doppelganger. No sane person would buy that.

But then Yuuto begins to look thoughtful. "'Yuuri'…Why does that name sound familiar?"

Yuuya blinks at him, startled. At this point in time, none of them should have any idea who Yuuri is. But then again, something had changed. Yuugo and Yuuto had stopped fighting and now Yuuto is alive and sitting here with them. Could it be? Perhaps the two of them-

"Wait, wait, wait. Who the heck is Sora?" Yuugo cuts in, annoyed. "What are you guys talking about? Are you saying there's _another_ guy out there that I have to beat up?!"

Yuuya's chest twists when he thinks of Yuuri, a rush of rage and hatred surging up as he remembers the resignation on his father's face as the violet light swallowed his body. He quickly clamps down on the feeling and buries it deep. He can't think about Yuuri now. Not when his grip on this reality is this fragile, even the slightest ripples of memories can destabilize him. "We've got to stay calm," he says, mostly to himself. "Jumping to conclusions is dangerous, especially since we don't know what's going on. If… I didn't believe you both weren't dangerous, I wouldn't have invited you here, right? So let's all talk this through. Please?"

Yuuto nods slowly and Yuuya heaves a sigh before turning to look at his more impulsive counterpart.

Yuugo clenches his jaw stubbornly for a moment, before finally relaxing. "Fine," he mutters, a light dusting of pink appearing on his face as he looks away. "I guess you're probably a decent guy. And… And your mom's really nice. So I'll trust you guys. For now."

Yuuya's chest finally loosens and he can finally breathe again. "Thank you," he whispers, fighting another wave of emotion. "Thank you so much." He's suddenly grateful beyond words that the two of them are here with him. Even though at the moment they are practically strangers, Yuuya feels as if he isn't alone. Like everything will work out. As long the three of them never encounter Yuuri and never try to fight each other, Zarc will never rise again. If anyone can defy fate, it's the three of them.

"H-Hey, it's not that big a deal," Yuugo stammers, suddenly looking uncomfortable as he shoves at them. "Why do you look like you're gonna cry? And when are you guys gonna get off me?!"

"Huh?" Yuuya says before looking down. Yuuto shifts a bit, expression unequally as uncomfortable and Yuuya realizes that he's still sitting on their legs.

Of course, that's when the door opens and Yoko saunters in. "Rise and shine, boys! Hmm? Don't you boys look cozy?"

The three of them break apart with nearly identical yelps of dismay born of teenage embarrassment.

"It's not what it looks like!" Yuuya hurriedly tries to explain, even though he himself doesn't actually know what this looks like. But it's already too late since Yoko is already smirking.

"It's so nice to see that you're getting along with your brothers," she sighs, looking rather misty eyed. "I always regretted not giving you any younger brothers and sisters since you were always so lonely as a kid. I suppose your no-good father was good for something, at least."

"Mom!" Yuuya exclaims, feeling like he's eleven years old again. The embarrassment is accompanied by a slight sense of unease as he definitely doesn't remember Yoko ever slagging Yuushou off like this. If anything, he remembers her smiling gently at him and telling him to believe in his father. He couldn't have already affected things this much, could he?

Yoko obviously doesn't appreciate his plight as she turns to Yuuto and Yuugo with a warm smile. "How did you boys sleep? Yuuya didn't fall on you or anything, right?"

"Uh," says Yuugo.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Mrs. Sakaki. And for the washing," Yuuto speaks up, the tips of his ears turning pink. "We didn't mean to intrude on you last night."

"Nonsense," Yoko laughs, her eyes already brimming with fondness for the newest strays that the Sakaki family had picked up. Just like, Yuuto and Yuugo had become family, whether they knew it or not. "Like I said last night, you boys are always welcome here. Just think of this place as your home. Now, Yuuya tells me you boys don't have anywhere else to stay, but you can't keep borrowing Yuuya's clothes forever. Why don't you all get dressed and I'll take you to pick something up?"

"That's really not necessary," Yuuto tries to refuse while Yuugo just stands around looking rather overwhelmed.

But his protests are useless in the face of a very determined mother and the next thing Yuuya knows, he's trailing behind them with his arms laden with shopping bags and trying to remember if he was supposed to be at school. Yoko seems intent on interrogating his dumbfounded counterparts on every aspect of their lives like she's trying to make up for fourteen years of mothering. Yuuya can only be grateful that Yuuto seems to have caught on that they should be trying to hide the fact that they're actually extra-dimensional aliens and is discretely covering for Yuugo's overly honest responses by intermittently jabbing his ribs with his elbow.

Although, Yuuya thinks glumly, not even Yuuto could have imagined that they were all reincarnated fragments of armageddon. He finds his attention drifting as they walk, quietly amazed at how ordinary everything now looks, with people bustling around and going about their everyday lives. It's almost unthinkable that it couldn't have been more than a few months since Yuuya was just like them.

He needs a plan. The first time around, Yuuya felt like he had been running blind. Yuuto had disappeared and he had woken up two days later with no time to process anything before the Junior Youth Championship started up again. He has to hold back another hysterical laugh when he remembers how his biggest worry had been just a simple tournament. It had all happened so quickly; in three days, Yuuya will face Kachidoki Isao in a match and will lose control for the first time. Then, the ill fated Battle Royale will start, followed by Academia's invasion. Which means Yuuya only has days to stop everything.

Soon, Serena will arrive in Maiami City and Akaba Leo will stop at nothing to get her and Yuzu back. Dozens of duelists will fall and Yuzu disappears in the confusion, sparking their travels to the Synchro dimension in search of allies. Yuuya unconsciously chews on his lip as he wracks his brain for a solution. First of all, he has to keep Yuzu and Serena safe and out of Akaba Leo's hands. Which means he has to first convince Serena that what Academia is doing is wrong. But how can he stop the invasion? And what can he do about Sora? And Dennis ?

He lets out a sigh, thinking of the glass tower standing high above Maiami City's skyline. At the thought of LDS's young president, a complicated mix of emotion surges up. As much as he hates it, Reiji is probably the only one with the power to make any kind of difference now. But Yuuya can't forget how he had knowingly let so many duelists fall, letting a bunch of unprepared children be picked off. Hokuto, Michio, Hikage… When it comes down to it, can he really trust Reiji to do what is right? Or even believe him at all? It isn't like Yuuya can simply march up to him and tell him that he has seen the future.

Yuuya lets out another sigh. Chances are if he tries to tell anyone he would be locked up in a padded room. Or worse, if they actually believe him, he and Yuugo and Yuuto would probably all be locked up to avert the apocalypse. Perhaps even killed.

Something sparkling in a storefront window captures his eye and his feet come to a stop. A sleek, silver bracelet sparkles atop a velvet case and he stares at it, a lump forming in his throat.

He casts his gaze forward to see Yuugo and Yuuto had somehow gotten into an argument, faces practically pressed together as they bickered with Yoko watching them with bemusement. A wry smile touches his lips even as conviction slowly solidifies in his chest.

He wants a world where they can all live together. Where no one has to fight for their lives, where Yuuto and Kurosaki and Ruri can be at peace, where Yuugo and Rin can work on D-Wheels and his mother makes pancakes every day in the morning. He wants to go to school and nap in class and have Yuzu and Gongenzaka scold him. He wants Serena to not have to look over her shoulder and for Dennis and Sora to live the normal lives they should have had. There are so many things that he wants to protect. So many things that are precious to him.

Which is why Yuuya can't give up. Even if it all looks hopeless, somehow, somewhere, there has to be a way to set things right.

The strands of time are unbraiding themselves, coming undone from the loom of destiny. Never mind causing ripples; Yuuya feels that he is standing at the head of a tsunami that threatens to wipe out everything in its path. There are so many choices, so many paths. So many questions.

It's a new and terrifying feeling.

When was the last time, he wonders, that he had truly gotten to choose his path? All his life, he had been guided and molded by hands that weren't his own. He clung to Yuushou's dueling and his ideologies, desperate to prove them all wrong. He had been drawn into a war that he couldn't even begin to understand until it consumed them all.

Today, he will take his first step as Sakaki Yuuya. Not a coward's son, not a fragment of Zarc. But as no one but himself.


	4. Next Steps

"Yuuya, your mom's a pretty cool lady." Yuugo was gazing at his reflection with a mystified expression on his face as he inspects the brand new clothes that Yoko had insisted on getting for him. Privately, Yuuya thinks she might have been a bit too enthusiastic, buying full sets of clothes for all three of them despite Yuuya's insistence that he already had a full wardrobe.

Yuugo's riding suit had been traded for a sleeveless white and blue hoodie and a pair of skinny jeans with pocket chains. Yuuto, on the other hand, had been put into a tailored black shirt and dark green waistcoat. Both of them looked smart and trendy and were a far cry from their worn and bedraggled appearances from Yuuya's memories. It's almost disconcerting to see.

"Yeah," he replies, lips twitching up into a grin tinged with just a hint of teenaged embarrassment. "She really is." He himself was dressed in new fitted jeans, a scoop neck shirt and a bunch of superfluous accessories that Yoko insisted were fashionable. To be honest, he feels almost more drained from clothes shopping with his mother than hurtling back in time.

The three of them are finally taking a break, scattered around his room while Yoko bustled around in the kitchen downstairs. Yuuto's face has taken on a slightly pinched quality and Yuuya spies him fidgeting and glancing out the window when he thinks they're not looking. No doubt he's anxious to get in touch with Kurosaki too.

No doubt they're all anxious in their own way. He shakes himself out of his thoughts and plasters on another smile. The three of them are finally alone again and judging from the mask of seriousness falling over their faces, they too could sense the shift in mood. All distractions aside, there are things that they have to discuss.

Yuuya clears his throat. It had gone dry, tightening at the thought of breaching the subject. Before Yoko's interruption, they had reached a tentative truce. But where exactly are they supposed to go from here? Where are they even supposed to start when an entire dimension was their enemy? So many words bubble at the tip of his tongue but Yuuya finds himself mute, too overwhelmed to pick the right ones.

But nothing will be started if he doesn't step forward.

"So," he says to get their attention, swallowing down whatever reservations he still has. "What are you two going to do now?"

The pair of them pause.

"I was wondering the same thing," Yuuto admits with a sigh. "Shun and I came to this dimension in search of allies to help us fight back against Academia and to find hints of where Ruri might be. Those goals haven't changed."

Yuugo yanks himself away from the mirror and plops down onto the carpet next to them, a pensive expression on his face. This seriousness fits better with how Yuuya remembered him; driven and focused with a hint of desperate rage simmering behind his eyes.

"This Akaba asshole is the guy behind everything, right?" he says, smacking a fist into his hand. "Along with that bastard who kidnapped Rin. They're from this 'Academia' place, right? We just have to go in and break them out!"

"If we had the forces to storm Academia, we would have gone a long time ago," Yuuto says stiffly. "We won't even make it to their doorstep."

"Maybe for _you_ ," Yuugo shoots back, seemingly offended at the insinuation. "But Rin is counting on me! I can't just sit here and wait for someone else to rescue her!"

Yuuto's eyes narrow. "Is that what you're saying we're doing?"

"Guys," Yuuya cuts in before anything can escalate. "I know you're both worried about your friends but you can't help if you're fighting each other!" The last thing he wants now is for them to get into another fight. He breathes an internal sigh of relief when the other two only glare at each other for a moment longer before breaking away in a huff. Yuuto had always been so level-headed and reliable, so why is it that he's seen him lose his temper in more times with Yuugo in a day than in the months he spent inside his soul?

It occurs to him that he's at a war council made entirely of his own counterparts. It is taking arguing with yourself to a whole new level.

Yuugo takes a visible breath and expels it hard enough to stir his bangs. "So what are we supposed to do? Nothing?" There's still a hint of aggressive sarcasm in his tone but Yuuto appears to let it slide this time.

"I have another comrade. Shun. The last time we were in touch, he told me he struck a deal with LDS. Akaba Reiji, Leo's son apparently wanted an alliance. In exchange for our help, he will provide soldiers for the war against Academia."

"His son? Sounds fishy as hell. How do you know he's not actually on his old man's side?" Yuugo says immediately and it seems that Yuuto is actually in agreement for once given that the crease between his brow deepens.

"I've told him to be on his guard," he sighs. "But Shun will be Shun."

Yuuya's expression takes on a slightly pinched quality as he thinks of Akaba Reiji. The first time around, Yuuya hadn't trusted him. Sure, he respected him but it was a frustrated reluctance from the one-sidedness of their relationship with Reiji holding all the cards, leaving Yuuya to flounder around in the dark. He had known about the invasion. He'd known about his father. How different would Yuuya's childhood have been if he knew his father hadn't been a coward?

But no matter how hard Yuuya tries, he can't think of a way around it. He needs to speak with Akaba Reiji.

"That's it?" Yuugo's jaw goes slack with disbelief. Then he scowls, shaking his head. "That's your plan? You're just going to wait around and put all your hopes on this Reiji guy. That's the same as doing nothing! If you want to wait around while your friend might be getting _hurt_ , then fine. But I'm not gonna sit around, even if I have to go rescue Rin alone! Like I always have!"

"If you want to get yourself killed for no reason, then by all means-"

"Guys!" Yuuya tries to cut in again but Yuugo had already lunged forward to grab Yuuto's collar. He makes a frustrated noise and darts forward to try to separate them. "Guys, stop! Didn't we just agree fighting each other isn't going to help?!"

"You guys don't get it! Rin's all I have!"

Yuugo's sudden shout has them falling silent and Yuuya does a double-take when he finally notices the beads of moisture gathering on his lashes. Yuugo draws a shaky breath, letting Yuuto go to rub angrily at his eyes. "She's my only family. You've got your mom and you have that Shun person, but to me, Rin is everything. She could be out there alone and scared. They could be hurting her. If… If I don't get her back... "

Yuuto's eyes go wide as he and Yuuya exchange slightly panicked looks when their counterpart lets out what sounds alarmingly like a sniffle.

"Yuugo-" they both start cautiously, with Yuuto moving to place a hand on his shoulder and Yuuya hurriedly grabbing a box of tissues.

"Sorry," Yuugo says miserably, taking the tissues from him and blowing his nose loudly. "I just…"

"I'm sorry too," Yuuto replies, gaze downcast. "Just like you, I want to get my friends and family back. But… But it's because they're counting on us that we can't afford to be reckless. If we get ourselves captured or killed, who is going to help them?"

Yuugo hiccups, rubbing harder at his eyes. He looks so much like a lost child that Yuuya doesn't know how he could ever have thought of him as cold or cruel. "I know that! I just can't stand it."

"You're not alone anymore," Yuuya says, attempting what he hopes is a reassuring smile. If Yuuya were to look in the mirror, he's sure it comes out strained and cracked at the edges, barely held together with desperate optimism. But luckily for him, neither of them know him well enough to spot the brittleness in the curve of his lips. "You have us now. And my mom said you're both welcome here now, remember? We'll figure this out. We'll save everyone together."

To his great relief, Yuugo pulls back, wiping his eyes as he visibly pulls himself together. "Right. Together," he agrees in a stronger voice and straightens up. Only the faint redness around his eyes and nose gives away the cracks in his composure. Yuugo seems happy to pretend he hadn't just burst into tears in front of them and Yuuya and Yuuto are more than happy to let him.

Yuuya lets out the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. There is one thing Yuuya is sure of; he absolutely doesn't want the three of them to split up. A wave of nausea rises up as he thinks about one of them running into Yuuri, or worse. He needs them with him.

Yuuto gives Yuugo another tentative pat on the shoulder and withdraws his hand, going slow as if to ascertain that he wasn't about to fall apart without it. "I don't like it either," he admits, the crease between his eyebrows deepening. Yuuya realizes that he must be just as frustrated as Yuugo is. "We don't know what Akaba Reiji is after either. All Shun told me was that he had a grudge against his father."

"Maybe we need to ask him directly," Yuuya mutters. All this conjecture isn't going to get them anywhere, this endless cycle of asking themselves if they should trust Reiji. Two pairs of identical eyes swivel towards him and Yuuya ends up squirming under the sudden intensity of their gazes. "I mean. We've met before. He said he admired my father. Maybe I can talk to him. Figure out what his plans actually are so we can be proper allies." Like they never had been in the past. Or is it future? If they're not sharing information, then how can there be trust?

Yuugo's eyes clear as he smacks a fist into his palm. "That's right! If he's not going to talk then we'll make him. We'll beat the shit out of him and then we'll make him cough up where they're keeping Rin and Ruri!"

"Wait, no. No one is beating anyone up," Yuuya says hurriedly while Yuuto starts to pinch the bridge of his nose like he's trying to stave off an impending migraine. It doesn't seem to be working for him. "We're just going to talk."

The Synchro duelist doesn't look quite convinced as he sits back down with a vaguely dissatisfied expression. "Okay, fine," he says reluctantly. "Yuuya will talk to him. But I'm coming with! What if it's a trap?"

"It's only a trap if he thinks Yuuya is coming," Yuuto says, his expression neutral but Yuuya can detect a faint undercurrent of sarcasm that he dearly hopes Yuugo doesn't notice. "And do all your plans involve beating people up for information?"

Yuugo's eyes narrow suspiciously. "What are you trying to say?"

"You would get along with Shun."

"You're picking a fight with me, aren't you?"

"Guys!" Yuuya finds himself interjecting for the nth time. It's almost as if there is just some immutable law of nature that the two of them will inevitably collide over every topic imaginable. Yuugo is the first to tear himself away, huffing childishly as he crosses his arms over his chest. The only indication of Yuuto's annoyance is a tick in his brow, but it smooths over when he turns back to Yuuya.

"I never wanted to involve you in all this, Yuuya," Yuuto speaks up quietly. "You have already done so much for us, taking us in and stopping us from making a terrible mistake. But this isn't your fight."

"No. It is," Yuuya says. It takes all of the acting skills he possesses to hide away the crushing weariness that had buried itself deep in his bones. "If Akaba Leo is waging wars on the other dimensions, if he attacked Heartland and kidnapped people from the Synchro dimension… if he sent Sora as some kind of scout… then it doesn't make sense that he'll leave the Standard dimension alone."

Yuugo frowns, eyes darkening. "You think there's a chance that he'll attack my dimension too? I don't want to save Rin just to make her go through a war."

Images of straw-blond hair and sneering green eyes flash across Yuuya's vision and he flinches at the phantom pain searing through his head. He bites his lip. There would be no war coming for the Synchro dimension because it had fallen a long time ago. Him knowing about Yuuri was already a stretch; there's no way he can explain away this kind of knowledge. "That's why we have to stop Academia. Before they can ruin any more lives."

"So it's decided, then?" Yuuto murmurs, pushing himself off the ground and dusting off his jeans. "We'll go to LDS tower and get our answers."

"Yeah!" Yuugo calls out, also climbing to his feet. His gaze is serious and focused, although the way he's cracking his knuckles makes Yuuya slightly nervous. "We'll make that Reiji guy cough up everything."

Yuuya gets to his feet as well, a little warily as it seems like the both of them are under the impression that Yuuya had meant for them to go this instant . He can still hear Yoko moving around downstairs, but from his counterpart's determined expressions, he knows they're tired of stalling. He's tired of it too; every second they spend thinking is another second of action wasted. "Right, let's-"

They're interrupted by a sudden blast of music which makes them all jump. Yuugo lets out a strangled shout while Yuuto has assumed some sort of defensive posture with his duel disk halfway to activation which would have been amusing if Yuuya's heart didn't feel like it was going to burst open. Until he finally registers what they're hearing.

" _\- lights on,_ biri-biri, e _verybody going,_ kabe _o_ tsukiyabure!"

It takes Yuuya an age to recognize the sound of his own ring-tone and he flushes red, practically diving for the duel disk that he had left on his desk. The display flashes insistently and he almost drops the device when he sees the caller-ID.

Yuuya's breath catches like he had been punched in the lungs. Suddenly, any thoughts of Akaba Reiji or dimensional wars bleed from his mind and the world narrows to the four blinking letters on the screen. He's peripherally aware of Yuuto and Yuugo's calling out to him, but the concerned voices sound distant and muted like they're coming through the end of a long tunnel. It isn't until Yuuto reaches forward to grab his shoulder that he's finally brought back to reality.

"Sorry!" he gasps, hands fumbling with the knobs as his body starts moving towards the other room without his brain catching up. "I have to take this!"

"Hey, wait! What about going to see Akaba Reiji? Hey, Yuuya!"

Everything is spinning; his vision tilts and Yuuya doesn't remember leaving the room until he finds himself with his back pressed against the closed door in his bathroom. With shaking fingers, he hits receive.

"Yuuya! Where have you been?!"

Yuuya fumbles with his duel disk again, nearly dropping it from surprise. The phrase, 'a sight for sore eyes' springs into mind as he desperately drinks in the sight in front of him. His eyes sting, even as he forces to keep them open so he can take in her face. Seeing her alive and well fills him with a dizzying euphoria and relief that he can't put to words. He had known, intellectually, that she would be. But seeing her with his own eyes, even through a screen, hits him so hard that his knees buckle.

"Yuzu…" he chokes out past the lump in his throat.

She's here. Safe and sound with her family and friends in the city they grew up in. If she had been here physically, he knows he would have broken down, clinging to her and blubbering like an idiot. There are so many things he wants to say, so many apologies and regrets. He wants to tell her how much he missed her, how he never realized how much he leaned on her before she disappeared. All those nights of sleepless worry, the gut-wrenching fear as her body fell from the course, the blank look in her eyes when Akaba Leo reduced her to a doll.

But he holds it all back. Choking it all back down even as his emotions threatened to combust.

This Yuzu won't have any idea what he's talking about. This Yuzu hasn't lived it yet. She hasn't experienced being hunted by Academia, the madness of the Synchro dimension, or Akaba Leo's twisted machinations. Right now, all Yuzu had to worry about was competing in the championship and the whispers of a war she couldn't understand.

He can't burden her with all that, Yuuya realizes as a pang rips through his chest. She might not even believe him. Yuuya wouldn't have believed him. How could he tell her that some madman was willing to plunge the world into fire and chaos just to get to her? How could he tell her he came from a future where he saw her disappear?

She already looks awful. Brows knitted in worry, blue eyes shadowed by dark circles and her hair mussed like she hasn't slept a wink.

"Yuuya, what happened last night? Where did you go? What happened to Sora? Is he okay? Is he with you?" Yuzu fires off a litany of questions that has Yuuya reeling once again. His already turbulent emotions are thrown into further disarray at the mention of Sora.

Reality hits him like a blow to the gut.

Yuzu isn't safe. None of them are. All of those terrible things are still lurking just around the corner. At this point, Sora is only one of many threats ahead. Whatever sudden change of heart he might have had in the future certainly didn't stop him from doing what he did to Hikage or to Kurosaki.

There just isn't enough time.

"Yuuya?"

Yuuya realizes he must have been quiet for too long when Yuzu calls out again He swallows to sort through the mess in his head to come up with something to say. Something to reassure her. "It's a long story," he says hoarsely. "Sora… He... went back home. I'll tell you and Gongenzaka about it together."

Yuzu's lips pursed like she wants to poke all sorts of holes through his flimsy excuse but she ends up giving in with a sigh. "I guess the important thing is that you're okay," she murmurs. "You really scared us, you know? You could have at least messaged me back!"

"I… I know. I should have," he says, wincing at the volume of Yuzu's voice. "I just. Had a lot of things on my mind."

"Like what?" Yuzu asks with a suspicious glare and Yuuya can fill in the rest. What could be more important than finding their injured friend ?

But Sora hadn't thought of them as friends, had he? Yuuya had been so convinced that if they only talked it would all be a misunderstanding. Until he watched him card another duelist and laugh. It had taken Yuzu being threatened for him to come to his senses. What would it take this time around?

"Just… just stuff," Yuuya says.

"Stuff," Yuzu echoes, her voice flat with an undercurrent of hurt that makes his chest clench.

"It's complicated," he says and winces when Yuzu's expression turns flatter. "I mean. I've… there's just a lot going on right now. Like… family stuff?"

"Family stuff? Is your mom alright?" The hurt in Yuzu's eyes is immediately replaced with concern. "Do you need me to come over? Is there anything I can do?"

"No, no. Everyone's fine," Yuuya says hastily. "Uh. I just… Have some relatives over."

As if right on cue, someone pounds loudly on the bathroom door.

"Yuuya!" Yuugo's voice rings insistently through the wood. "Who are you talking to? Aren't we supposed to be going now? Yuuya!"

To make matters worse, it is then that Yuuto's baritone also makes itself heard. "Yuuya? Is everything alright?"

"Yuuya, who's that?" Yuzu asks with bewilderment on her face. Her eyebrows knit with confusion as recognition flashes through her eyes. "Wait… that person sounds familiar…"

Yuuya's chest constricts; he had completely forgotten something very, very important. Yuuto and Yuzu had known each other. Yuzu definitely won't believe that they're really Yuuya's long-lost siblings from out of town (or rather, from different dimensions). If she recognizes Yuuto, he knows she'll come running. The last thing he needs right now is for them to be separated again but how the hell is he supposed to explain that to Yuzu? He hasn't spent all this time and effort convincing them to work together, only to have everything undone. He sucks in a deep breath. The concern and suspicion radiating from Yuzu is palpable and Yuuya knows that Yuzu would come running at the slightest hint that Yuuya is in distress. And he certainly hadn't helped himself any with how suspicious and off-balance he was acting.

Yuuya breathes out slowly and does the only thing he can think of doing. He relaxes his shoulders, letting the built-up tension artificially dissipate as he slides a smile so smoothly onto his face that it looks real. The apprehension and panic is easily masked by the sheepish curl of his lips as he places a hand behind his head. The motions feel odd, yet familiar. Like he's an actor playing an old part.

"Give me a sec, I'll be right out!" he calls out to them. He turns back to Yuzu, lips still turned up into an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I have to go. I'll see both you and Gongenzaka tomorrow, okay?"

"But-" Yuzu tries to argue. Yuuya doesn't blame her. He wouldn't be happy if it had been Yuzu who had mysteriously disappeared and then refused to say a word. He'll just have to make it up to her.

"Don't worry, Yuzu," Yuuya cuts in gently. "I promise I'll explain everything then. We can meet up at that pancake house if you want. I'll even treat you guys to apologize for making you worry."

Yuzu still doesn't look convinced but sensing that she probably isn't going to get anything else out of him, she lets out a sigh. "Fine," she says, rubbing her temples before she glares at him with a hint of childishness as she crosses her arms. "But only if it's your treat."

"Yeah," Yuuya says, managing a laugh. "See you guys then."

"See you."

As soon as the call ends, the strength leaves his legs and Yuuya finds himself sliding down against the door with a gasp. He touches a trembling hand to his chest and feels his heart beating as furiously as if he had run a marathon.

"Yuzu…" he whispers, covering his face as he works to regulate his breathing. His eyes are damp. "I promise I'll save you this time."

But this isn't the time to sit around and mope about his the rewritten past. The banging on the door grows louder and Yuugo's voice more impatient as the seconds trickle on.

"Did you fall in or something?!"

"No, I'm coming." Yuuya turns on the tap and splashes water on his face. By the time he opens the door again, all traces of redness have gone from his eyes. In its place, determination burns. He meets Yuuto and Yuugo's gazes steadily.

"Let's go then. To LDS tower."


	5. Two Steps Forward

It only occurs to Yuuya he's only seen it up close a handful of times and only been inside once. But it never failed to strike a strange sense of awe. LDS Tower, clearly the tallest landmark in Maiami City, was a symbol of prestige and power. Leo Corporation's young president, Akaba Reiji, had been lauded as a true genius when he took over from his absent father. He would have been the same age as him, maybe even younger when he took on all that responsibility.

As Yuuya gazes up at its sleek glass curtainwalls stretching almost beyond what the eye can see, he feels incredibly small.

"Do we just walk in through the front door?" Beside him, Yuugo shifts his weight from one foot to the other. He doesn't look anxious, per say, but there is an undercurrent of agitation in his voice that Yuuya can understand.

"LDS is mostly just a school. At least, from what I've seen of the lower levels," Yuuya replies. He remembers being given a tour by Sawatari the first time they met, under the guise of wanting a friendly duel. They did end up dueling in the center court, but only after he tried to steal his Pendulum cards. He briefly spares a thought for the Sawatari he'd left behind in the future; he had really come a long way, hadn't he?

Akaba Reiji's office would have to be on one of the upper floors. Yuuya can only remember going up there once, just before they departed for Yuugo's home dimension. The last time, he hadn't exactly been in the right mindset to pay attention to his surroundings. His emotions had felt like one open wound, bleeding from losing Yuzu and Sora's betrayal. They had just driven off an interdimensional invasion but all they had to show for it were fallen comrades and Reiji's declarations of war. They had effectively been conscripted into the Lancers. Lance Defence Soldiers.

"Guess we'll find out," Yuuto mutters.

The three of them share a nod before Yuuto melts into the shadows and Yuugo, back in his riding gear, jams his helmet back onto his head and tints his visor. They agreed that it would draw far too much attention for three Sakaki Yuuyas to wander right into their lobby.

The glass doors slide open and the pair of them step into the foyer. Yuuya fights an odd kind of double vision as he takes in the towering wall to wall screens and endless glass hallways. Everything down to the last tile seems to redefine 'state of the art'. The last time he was here, the place had been packed with students but now it is surprisingly empty. There are only a few children scattered around, watching the broadcast on the screen or practicing behind the glass room.

The silence is almost eerie. But with the Maiami Championship going on, it's to be expected that not many would still be hanging around, maybe aside from the unlucky ones that failed to qualify.

Yuuya takes a deep breath to steady his nerves and gives his gawking companion a gentle nudge. Yuugo snaps his jaw closed.

"This is a school?!" he hisses to Yuuya and even with most of his face behind his visor, Yuuya can still make out his incredulousness.

"I couldn't believe it either," he replies under his breath. He had been just like Yuugo, looking around like a wide-eyed country bumpkin. "But we don't have time to waste."

Yuugo nods imperceptibly and straightens up. Their footsteps echo strangely as they make their way across the hallway towards the reception desk where a lone woman was standing.

"Welcome to Leo Duel School. How can I help you today?" she asks in a polite monotone as they reach the front. But upon a second look at Yuuya's face and a quick glance to his duel disk, recognition flashes through her eyes. "Ah, you're Sakaki Yuuya! You're the one who did the speech at the opening ceremony."

"Uh, yeah, that's me," Yuuya says, slightly thrown for a loop at being recognized. But then again, this is his home dimension. He recovers quickly and cuts right to the chase. "We were wondering if we could talk to President Akaba."

"Of course," the lady says as she brings up a translucent screen. "Do you have an appointment to see him?"

Yuuya blinks. "Uh. No?" It comes out as more of a question than an answer as he and Yuugo share an awkward silence. "But it's important."

"I'm afraid I can't let you see the president in without an appointment," the woman says apologetically. "He is a very busy man."

"Then," Yuuya fishes around for something to say as he can feel Yuugo stirring restlessly beside him. "Can we make one?"

"Sure thing," she says, scrolling through the screen which Yuuya realizes was actually a scheduling assistant. "Let's see. Ah, yes, he has an opening two weeks from now on Thursday at 8:00 am. Will that do?"

Yuuya's stomach drops. "In two weeks?!" he echoes. "Are you sure?"

"I'm afraid so. Unless another appointment is canceled, that's the earliest available time."

Yuugo cuts in indignantly, his hands balled up into fists and Yuuya is suddenly worried that he might leap forward to strangle the receptionist. "We can't wait that long!"

"Can you send him a message?" Yuuya insists, subtly stepping in front of Yuugo. "Tell him that Sakaki Yuuya is here and… and we need to talk to him about Academia."

"Academia?" The woman echoes with a hint of skepticism and Yuuya realizes his error too late. "If you boys want to enroll in one of our duel courses, I can provide you with our application forms. There's no need to trouble the president for that."

"No, wait!" Flustered now, Yuuya tries to backtrack. "We're not here to enroll! Please, just pass that message on to him-"

"I'm sorry," she cuts him off with a shake of her head "But if you want to speak with him, then you will have to follow procedure like everyone else. We can't just let anyone in walk in to see him, especially not if it's going to waste his time."

"Screw procedure!" Yuugo explodes before Yuuya can react, slamming his hands down on the desk. The lady rears back in shock, a hint of fear flitting across her face. "What's wrong with at least passing the message on?! Or are you saying your boss can't decide for himself what's important or not?"

"Ex-excuse me?" the woman stammers, startled offense spreading her face. "Even if you are children, you shouldn't speak to your elders like that-"

"Yuugo!" Yuuya lets out a panicked hiss. "Wait a minute-"

But Yuugo continues on like he hadn't heard a word. "Tell Akaba Reiji to get his ass down- mmpfh!"

Yuuya tightens his grip over Yuugo's mouth, wincing when one of his pointy elbows dig into his ribs. "Sorry, we just… really, really need to talk to him. Please, there are lives at stake!"

"Please leave the premises at once," the receptionist says severely, the affront on her face melting into icy politeness. The two men in black suits and dark glasses not so subtly begin to leave their post at the elevators, advancing slowly on them. The message is clear.

"Haaah?!" Yuugo wiggles out of Yuuya's grip and there is no doubt that his eyes are taking on a troublesome glint behind his shaded visor. Rather than cowing him, he seems to be taking it as a personal challenge, bringing his fists together and cracking his knuckles. "Just try and make us!"

Yuuya practically dives at him, locking his biceps around Yuugo's shoulders. "No, no! It's fine! We're leaving now, okay? There's no need to make us do anything."

"What the hell? Yuuya, let me go!" Yuugo hisses, not at all appreciative of Yuuya's efforts to do damage control. "We can take them!"

Yuuya doesn't doubt that they can, only he really doesn't think beating up Reiji's employees is the best way to get an audience with him. He doesn't want to be spending the rest of the tournament cooling his heels in a cell. "We don't want to draw any more attention," he says into his ear. "There could… there could be Academia spies around or something. We'll find another way in!"

Actually, Yuuya knows for a fact that there are spies around. Particularly a certain redheaded Academia soldier who must be hanging around LDS to keep an eye on Reiji's movements. There's more than one way in; Yuuto can try to get in contact with Shun and pass on the message that way. Or they could contact Hokuto, Yaiba, or Masumi. The problem is, it all depends on whether Akaba Reiji himself would agree to see him. It's demoralizing, to say the least, having met a roadblock at the first juncture. But Yuuya isn't about to give up now.

For a moment, Yuugo falls into a pensive silence and Yuuya breathes a sigh of relief and lets his arms drop. "Come on, Yuugo. Let's go back-to-back- Yuugo?!"

Yuuya is a step too late as Yuugo suddenly lunges forward. Snarling, he slams into one of the guards, leaving Yuuya to gape at him in horror. The first guard goes down with a strangled yelp, obviously not having anticipated that someone so much smaller would be so ferocious.

There is a confused flurry of activity as the receptionist screams and Yuuya hurries forward to do something like pulling Yuugo back. But that only added fuel to the fire as Yuuya gets the breath knocked out of him as the second security guard tackles him to the ground without so much as a warning.

When they all eventually straighten up, the guard marching Yuugo out is spotting a nasty shiner and a split lip courtesy of his wildly swinging fists, while Yuuya's captor's nose is bleeding like a fountain from an entirely accidental headbutt.

"I'm really, really sorry," Yuuya apologizes again but it seems to fall on deaf ears. Or rather, it gets drowned out by Yuugo's furious yelling. "We just wanted to talk to Reiji!"

Yuuya and Yuugo are sent sprawling as the guards toss them out bodily.

"And don't come back!" the lady screams after them as the doors slide shut.

Groaning, Yuuya slowly picks himself up off the ground. When he tries to get another glimpse back inside, he spies the two security guards cracking their knuckles and lets out a sigh. This was not at all how he'd pictured this to go at all.

Yuugo growls, rolling up his jacket sleeves like he's gearing up for round two. "Don't think you've won, you bastards!"

"C'mon Yuugo," Yuuya says, quickly grabbing into Yuugo's arm before the situation can escalate any further than it already has. "Let's go meet up with Yuuto. Like we agreed on, remember?"

To his great relief, Yuugo only gives the security guards a vicious glare before finally backing down. "Urgh! Fine," he says with a huff and allows him to drag him away from the steps. "We coulda taken them, you know."

"Yes, Yuugo," Yuuya says wearily. "I know. But we're supposed to be asking Reiji for help. He might not want to hear us out if we beat up all his staff." Well, to be honest, with motivations as opaque as Reiji's, Yuuya isn't entirely sure how he would react, but it's probably better to play it safe. Although, Yuuya doesn't put it past him to have seen the entire confrontation.

Yuugo grumbles a few more uncomplimentary things under his breath as they make their way back to the alcove where they had agreed to rendezvous with Yuuto, out of sight from the surveillance cameras. They settle in to wait.

Luckily, they don't have too long to wait. Minutes later, Yuuto swoops down from the rooftops and lands in front of them, breaking the tense silence. Yuuya is especially relieved as he had grown tired of watching Yuugo wear a hole in the ground with his pacing. But he doesn't blame him. Yuuya has just as much reason to anxious, if not more.

"How did it go?" Yuuya asks somewhat anxiously. "Did you get in touch with Kurosaki?"

To his disappointment, Yuuto shakes his head in the negative.

"It's no good," he sighs, removing the mask from his face. "Ever since Shun went to LDS tower, I haven't been able to get in contact with him. Akaba Reiji must have installed some kind of jamming system to filter out unauthorized communication."

Yuuya grits his teeth, all too aware of the seconds ticking by. Time running out. If they don't talk to Reiji before the battle royale, things will play out exactly the same way. "Another dead end, huh?"

"I have an idea," Yuugo pipes up and they turn to look at him with varying degrees of skepticism and hope. "We'll charge in from the front and _make_ him talk to us!"

Yuuya stumbles while Yuuto claps a hand over his face. "Yuugo, there's no way they'll let us in there again."

"And even if we do, we won't make it past the ground floors," Yuuto explains with deliberate kind of patience. "You need a pass to even get into the elevators."

Yuugo suddenly grins, looking so smug and self-satisfied that Yuuya momentarily mistakes him for Yuuri. "You mean like this?" Still grinning, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out an LDS keycard.

"How- when did you-?" Yuuya sputters, torn between shock and admiration.

Yuugo shrugs, scratching his cheek almost bashfully. "Took it off the Security guy when I was tackling him. I saw it sticking out of his pocket and thought it could be useful. Here."

Yuuya snatches the card from the air, still shaking his head in disbelief. He looks back to Yuugo who seems to be watching him expectantly and it takes him a moment to realize he was waiting for a response. A slow grin spreads across his face as an incredulous laugh spills out from his throat. "Nice work, Yuugo!"

"I'm actually impressed," Yuuto admits, looking just as flummoxed as Yuuya feels. "I never pegged you to be much of a forward-thinker but I guess you're full of more surprises than I thought."

The answering grin that Yuugo shoots them both is blindingly bright. "Yeah, that's right!" he enthuses. "Let's see them try and stop us now! … Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" The last part was obviously directed at Yuuto as he takes a threatening step toward him.

Yuuya is almost moving on autopilot as he inserts himself between them again. "We should probably wait until regular hours are over," he says, finding it easier and easier to ignore the angry sparks flying between their eyes. "At least until those security guards are gone."

"Shouldn't be long now," Yuuto says as he gazes up at the sky. "When we first arrived in Standard, Shun and I conducted our own surveillance. They should be changing shifts in about two hours."

"Perfect," Yuuya says. "That's when we'll break in!"

Yuugo smacks a fist into his palm. "And this Reiji guy better have answers ready for us!"

* * *

 _Some think of time as a stream; a linear flow of events from one predestined path to another. And now the first stone is cast._


	6. Three Steps Back

Leo Duel School is creepy at night.

As the sun dips below the horizon, long, eerie shadows transform the pristine, modern building into an uncanny house of mirrors. Their footsteps echo against the tiles despite their best efforts to muffle the sounds and their reflections flicker from window to window almost like the had a will of their own. Yuuya feels almost as if they had been transported to a strange, silent otherworld that only consisted of the three of them.

In the two hours between the changing and the guards, the three of them had made a short pitstop back home, mostly to reassure Yoko that they would be coming back soon and also to pick up a change of clothes. Something darker, mostly so Yuugo doesn't stick out like a traffic light with his pale clothes. The stolen keycard had worked like a charm, unlocking the front entrance with a quiet click.

There's no sign of any guards as they make their way through the empty hallways and the only signs of movement at all are their own. They come to a stop next to the very set of elevators that the security guards had been standing guard over.

"Everyone ready?" Yuuya asks quietly, the stolen keycard gripped tightly in his hand. His duel disk whirls to life on his arm, just in case they run into trouble. And Yuuya has a sinking suspicion trouble will find them regardless this night.

"Yes," Yuuto says as Yuugo nods vigorously, his body practically coiled like a spring. "Remember, if that security guard realized his pass was missing-"

"They'll deactivate it or get it to trigger some kind of alarm," Yuugo cuts in impatiently. "We know already. Let's just hurry up!" If anything, Yuugo looks almost eager for a chance to bash some heads.

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," Yuuya says firmly. The three of them watch with bated breath as he slides the magstripe through the reader and the light flashes yellow before finally settling on green.

They let out collective sighs of relief as the metallic doors slide open to reveal an empty car.

"It worked!" Yuugo exclaims in a loud whisper, but at least he's making an effort to be stealthy.

"Save the celebrating for when we actually get to our destination," Yuuto says as he strolls past them, stepping cautiously into the car. Even Yuuya doesn't think Reiji is insane enough to boobytrap his elevators but one can never be too careful.

"According to the floor plan, his office is on the 100th floor," Yuuya says as he and Yuugo join him in the car.

The synchro duelist immediately goes for the control panel, gloved fingers hovering over the buttons. But that's where they discover the first snag in their plans.

"Hey, what gives? This thing only goes up to ninety!"

Yuuya preemptively shoots Yuuto a warning look because there is a glint in his eye that makes him worry that he's about say something sarcastic like congratulating Yuugo on being able to count that high. He does not want another argument while they're essentially going to be trapped in a small metal box.

"It's another layer of security," Yuuto explains instead, his voice neutral. "It makes sense that they would want to limit the amount of access that an intruder could have to sensitive data."

"We'll have to cross that bridge when we get there," Yuuya says. After all that trouble earlier, if things suddenly start going well now, he'd be even more worried.

The doors slide shut with an odd sense of finality. They settle into a tense silence, watching as the glowing digits increment. The ride is smooth, with almost no turbulence which speaks to how much importance LDS places on cutting-edge technology. Until the car suddenly lurches and comes to a shuddering stop. Luckily for Yuuya, he had been gripping onto the handrail and managed to keep his balance.

"Is everyone alright?" he calls out, trading concerned looks with Yuuto.

"What the hell was that?!" Yuugo yelps, scrambling back on his feet and leaping for the panel. "Why'd we stop?!" He furiously mashes the lit-up button as if to urge it to move again until Yuuto swats his hands away.

"That's not going to help," he grits out, but his deepening frown gives away his anxiousness. "Maybe it's just a malfunction."

The display flashes almost mockingly, perpetually stuck at seventy-five. Yuuya's hands clench as the seconds tick by. "Or maybe," he mutters, "They're onto us."

A full minute passes by, full of gnashing teeth and Yuugo trying to dismantle the control panel with his bare hands, but the doors remain firmly shut. If they weren't tense before they're definitely tense now.

"Damn it, we don't have time for this!" Yuugo shouts, slamming a fist against the metal and Yuuya winces when he feels the entire elevator shake. Suddenly, he's reminded unpleasantly that elevators are only suspended by several thin cables.

"We have to get out of here," he agrees. The walls are starting to feel claustrophobic; with every breath that he takes, the tiny box seems that much smaller. He winces, squeezing his eyes shut when memories of being kept prisoner in the Synchro dimension assault his mind. They have to getout . He had been trapped in an elevator once before, when he had been very young. He remembers clinging to Yoko's hand and crying as the technician on the other side of the speaker tries to console them. It had taken close to an hour before they were finally freed. But they can't wait for rescue. If they're lucky, security will toss them out on their asses and if they're not, they could all be headed for straight for a detention centre.

"Stand back," Yuuto suddenly says, throwing an arm out that has Yuugo blinking at him in confusion. Before Yuuya can voice his questions, Yuuto's duel disk is already thrumming and a card is shining in his hand.

"I summon **Phantom Knights - Ragged Gloves**!"

Yuugo lets out a yelp and scrambles out of the way as a ghostly figure suddenly emerges in the middle of the car. "What the heck are you doing? It's already cramped enough in here!"

"Go!" Yuuto commands and the pair of haunted gauntlets rushes forward towards the door and wedges its fingers into the steel. Mouths agape, Yuuya and Yuugo watch in awe as the metal strains and buckles beneath the monster's assault.

"That's right!" Yuuya murmurs, staring down at his duel disk. Unlike his own, Yuuto and Yuugo's duel disks could materialize Real Solid Vision without the help of an Action Field! It was only when they had departed for the Synchro dimension that Reiji upgraded the Lancer's disks.

With a groan, the monster gives one last heave and the heavy elevator doors fly open. Wasting no time, Yuuto darts through the entrance, having to hoist himself up onto the floor since the elevator had gotten stuck midway. He turns back around, his monster vanishing into sparks behind him as he peers back down at them. "Coming?" he asks wryly.

The Synchro user is the next to recover, hopping a bit to get the momentum to heave himself up. "Okay, fine," he says reluctantly as he crosses his arms. "That was actually kind of cool." Yuuto rolls his eyes in response but Yuuya can see a hint of a smile playing at his lips. "C'mon, Yuuya. Let's get going."

Yuuya blinks, bemused at the sight of his counterparts' outstretched hands as they reach back in for him. He stares up at their faces; Yuugo's is tinged with an expectant impatience while Yuuto's exudes a steady calm. But both of them are smiling at him. A lump rises up into Yuuya's throat as he quietly engraves this moment in his heart.

For the first time, he believes that they can change the future.

"Yeah!" he says, reaching up and grabbing onto their hands and lets them yank him up. With the three of them finally back on solid ground, they turn to take stock of their surroundings. The light suddenly flickers on, momentarily blinding them. They recover quickly enough, thanks to the goggles lowered over their faces.

"Huh?" Yuugo mutters as he peers through his fingers, being the first to voice what they were all thinking. "There's nothing here!"

Nothing was an apt description. They had stepped into what looked like a massive chamber that seemed to span the entire length of the floor. But there was absolutely nothing in it, just square, white tiles covering the walls and ceilings.

"This is…" Yuuya frowns. On the very far side of the room, he can make out what looks like another set of large, double doors; their only conceivable way out. "This feels like a trap."

As soon as the words left his mouth, the entire floor shudders violently and the walls and ceilings begin to glow.

ACTION FIELD, ON!

Yuuya barely has time to shout out a warning before their surroundings begin to warp. Alarm flares as columns of stone and metal rises up around them, spiraling up and twisting into corridors and staircases.

"Yuuya!"

Suddenly, Yuuya experiences a bout of weightlessness when the floor beneath his feet suddenly vanishes. He catches a glimpse of Yuuto and Yuugo's horrified faces as they get further and further away. Or rather, he's the one who is plummeting like a rock.

Yuuya moves without thinking, hands blurring to his deck as he draws, slamming the first two cards onto his duel disk.

" **Entermate - Whipviper** ! **Swordfish**!" The violet serpent shoots up from around his wrist and coils itself around swordfish that had embedded itself into the side of the pitfall. Yuuya winces as the recoil jars his arm, but his body comes to a swinging stop. Safe.

"Yuuya! YUUYA! You're not dead, right?! Yell if you're not dead!"

That would be Yuugo, he guesses with a relieved sigh. No sense of delicacy as usual.

"I'm fine!" he calls out, deliberately not looking down as he tries to figure out how far he had fallen. He can barely make out Yuuto and Yuugo's concerned faces.

"Hold on, I'm coming now," Yuuto says but Yuugo cuts him off.

"Leave this to me," he says, jabbing a thumb at his chest. "You already got your chance to show off! I summon **Speedroid - Menkoat**!"

Yuuya watches as what looks like a mechanical magic carpet zips down from above. It covers beside him with four little jets blasting and Yuuya wastes no time in swinging himself aboard as his own monsters vanishing into sparks behind him. The ride up is thankfully much smoother and in a matter of seconds, Yuuya is thankfully back on solid ground.

"Thanks, Yuugo," he gasps, finally noticing how much his heart was pounding.

"What the hell is going on!" Yuugo exclaims as he helps Yuuya steady himself, holding onto his arm with a bit more force than necessary while Yuuto hovers over him, checking for injuries. All three of them were rattled by the near miss. "Did we teleport again?!"

Yuuya can understand how Yuugo could have gotten that impression. The room they were in had been completely transformed. Somehow, a labyrinth of thick stone walls and endlessly winding passages have sprung up between them and the only exit. Even the temperature seems to have dropped, cold and damp radiating from the aged stone which adds another layer of unwanted realism to their predicament. There's no doubt now that they've walked straight into a trap.

"No," he explains, frowning as he tries not to give away his anxiousness. They can't see much from their vantage point; only a fork in the path between the set of gray stone walls and a claustrophobically low ceiling. The only consolation is that the area seems to have stabilized for now. "This is Real Solid Vision. We haven't left LDS tower… this must be an Action Field. But it's not one I've ever seen."

And where there are action fields, there must be enemy duelists. His fists clench as he looks up at the ceiling, wondering if they're being watched. There's no way Reiji wouldn't leave his tower unmonitored. He wouldn't put it past him to be sitting on the other side of a screen at this very moment!

"Really? No way!" Yuugo says, doing a double take as he bounds over to the nearest wall, running his hands over the rock. He even raps his knuckles against it a few times and blinks in bewilderment at the dull thuds that it gives off. "But it looks so real! And it's hard!"

"It's not any different from your hologram monsters," Yuuto mutters. "Just on a much larger scale."

Yuuya sucks in a deep breath and expels it, but he doesn't feel any calmer. With an action field in place and interfering with their senses, there's no guarantee they'll perceive the exit even if they're standing right in front of it. Even now, when he glances behind at where they came through, the broken elevator doors that he knows should be there are nowhere to be seen. "For now, let's just focus on getting out of here."

"It's obvious they're trying to slow us down," Yuuto mutters. "No doubt this is designed to keep intruders trapped in here until their security can catch up to them. If so, we had better move quickly."

"The problem is, how are we going to get through this maze?"

"Wait a sec, we haven't actually left the room, right?" Yuugo chips in his two cents, bringing a hand up to cup his chin. "So if we pick a random direction and go in a straight line, we'll make it to one of the real walls for sure."

"As long as the action field is generating Real Solid Vision, these walls are real," Yuuya refutes. "We can't get around them."

"Then we'll just break them!" Before any of them can react, Yuugo activates his duel disk again, causing them to hurriedly back away. "I summon, **Speedroid - Shave Boomerang!** "

Yuuya and Yuuto both wince and shield their eyes as the monster rockets out of the portal and smashes into the wall with both its blades held high. When they dare to look again, they see Yuugo grinning proudly at the smoking crater where the wall used to stand.

"Heh, that wasn't so tough." But just as those words had left his mouth, the floors let out another violent shudder and the three of them find themselves scrambling for safety as the debris starts flying. It almost looked like time was rewinding back as the wall that Yuugo had worked so hard to demolish literally reconstructed itself within seconds. "... Or not."

Yuuto reaches out slowly and smacks the back of his head.

"Ow! What the hell?"

"Will you stop charging ahead blindly?" Yuuto admonishes. "You don't know what traps might be in here!"

"Shut up! How was I supposed to know it was gonna do that?!"

"That's the point: you don't. We don't know anything about this field and we're in enemy territory. It won't kill you to exercise some more caution!"

"Okay, okay," Yuuya calls out wearily, sliding between them again with a hand on each of their shoulders to keep them apart. "But we've established that we can't break the walls. So what other ideas do we have?"

"It looks like we have no choice but to solve it," Yuuto takes a step back and adopts a pensive stance, unknowingly copying Yuugo's earlier pose with his hand on his chin.

Yuuya bites his lip, staring at Yuugo's exhausted form slumped against one of the walls he had been trying to knock down. "I'm not… really into puzzles or quizzes." A rather irritating memory floats up to the surface of his thoughts and Yuuya's brows twitch as he remembers a duel he would rather forget.

Yuuto frowns consideringly as he places a hand on the closest wall. "The most common method of solving a maze is the wall-following method. In theory, if you keep to one side of the wall like so, you're most likely going to end up at the exit. But that's only assuming that the walls are simply connected and that we're not stuck at a set of walls that loops around on itself. And there's no guarantee that this will be the quickest solution so maybe we could try using Trémaux's Algorithm..." He pauses, finally noticing Yuuya and Yuugo's blank faces.

"Dude, I have no idea what you just said," Yuugo tells him, eyeing him weirdly.

"Same," Yuuya agrees with an embarrassed shake of his head. A pale flush dusts Yuuto's cheeks as he coughs into his fist.

"A-Anyway. But since this is a Solid Vision field controlled by someone else, we can't assume it will even function like a conventional maze."

Yuugo lets out a suspicious little cough that sounds a lot like 'nerd' and Yuuya watches warily as Yuuto's gaze narrows.

"So," Yuuya cuts in while massaging his temples. "To sum it up; we can't stay here but there's no guarantee that we can find our way out. I guess… we'll just have to pick a random direction and hope for the best?"

"We might as well," Yuuto sighs, sounding almost pained at their total lack of strategy. "We don't have any better ideas at this point."

Yuugo jumps up, bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet. On the other hand, he seems completely re-energised by the alarming lack of a concrete plan and the prospect of being trapped in a magical, moving labyrinth with no way out. "Well, what are we waiting for?" he says with his characteristic impatience, only this time he's actually grinning with far too much optimism. "Let's go - left!" He points in a random direction before marching forward.

Only for Yuuto to drag him back by the collar. "Left is this way."

"I knew that! Let go, you eggplant-headed jerk!"

"Eggplant? How exactly do I look like an eggplant ?"

Bemused, Yuuya trails behind them. His counterparts are both sporting aggrieved expressions but this time he decides not to intercede since no one has suddenly developed glowing eyes or a supernatural need to absorb each other yet. They continue on without incident... until one of the tiles suddenly sinks beneath his feet with an ominous click.


End file.
